The Deskbound Birder: Chinese Bamboo Partridge

Showing posts with label Chinese Bamboo Partridge. Show all posts

Saturday, 28 April 2018

South-east China - 28th April (Day 8)

We spent the entire day in dark, damp and drizzly conditions at Emeifeng today with the main targets being Elliot's Pheasant and Cabot's Tragopan. Elliot's Pheasant is, on paper, the most difficult species at Emeifeng and so we spent the morning looking for it although, having seen this previously at Emeifeng, my desire was to be looking for Cabot's Tragopan. Still, I stayed with the group and after breakfast at the lower edge of the forest and some birding here seeing Rufous-faced Warbler, Yellow-cheeked Tit, Black-throated Tit. and Masked Laughingthrush we did a couple of drives up and down the road for the pheasant but with no luck, we did see Chinese Bamboo Partridge and Silver Pheasant but little else. We then spent the rest of the day birding the mid-altitude zones seeing a moderate range of species including Red-headed Trogon, Great Barbet, Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush, Indochinese Yuhina, Black-chinned Yuhina, Chestnut Bulbul, Black Bulbul, Rufous-faced Warbler, Golden-crowned Warbler, Speckled Piculet, White-bellied Erpornis, Grey-chinned Minivet and Sultan Tit. A male and two female Koklas Pheasant showed moderately well but briefly on the forested slope below the road and a single male was flushed from the road by the vehicle. A small gully produced a singing Spotted Elachura which showed very well as it crept about in the brash overhanging the stream that ran through its territory. Best of all though, a flyby thrush that Andy D thought may have been a Siberian Thrush seemed to land deep in the forest alongside the road. We scanned for a while then applied a little playback and Martin soon picked up a stunning male Siberian Thrush. The bird was feeding in the leaf litter deep in the undergrowth alongside the road giving good views until it flew and perched in full view allowing us all to study the slatey black plumage with pristine white supercilium - a stunning species.

The day was drawing to a close and so we headed up hill to the Tragopan zone and as we entered the prime area the driver spotted a male on one of the slopes above the road, some of those in the front of the bus had brief views of the bird but Ian, Barry and I failed to get onto the bird through the windows of the vehicle which were partly steamed and covered with rain - all I saw was a stone dislodged by the bird tumble down the slope. Rather annoyed by this, we headed back to the lodge for food and beer.

Chinese Bamboo Partridge - Emeifeng Mountain

Juvenile Black-cheeked Tit - Emeifeng Mountain

Yellow-cheeked Tit - Emeifeng Mountain

Rhododendron - Emeifeng Mountain

Mist covered hillside - Emeifeng Mountain

Chestnut-bellied Rock-thrush - Emeifeng Mountain

Sultan Tit - Emeifeng Mountain

Rather monotonous call of Sultan Tit - Emeifeng Mountain

Spotted Elachura. The species is the sole member of the recently recognised family Elachuridae - Emeifeng Mountain

This is the remarkable, high pitched, song of Spotted Elachura - Emeifeng Mountain

Grab of a section of Spotted Elachura song showing the simple song structure delivered at between 5.5 and 5.9 KHz

Indochinese Yuhina - Emeifeng Mountain

Montane forest at Emeifeng Mountain

Birding the montane forest at Emeifeng Mountain

Siberian Thrush, this superb bird is a first summer male with the retained wing feathers being browner than the body. This was one of the highlights of the trip for me - Emeifeng Mountain

Black Bulbul - Emeifeng Mountain

Links to Other Days of the Trip (Click to View)
Day 1 and 2 – International flight and Dongtai.
Day 3 - Dongtai.
Day 4 – Dongtai and Magic Wood.
Day 5 - Nanhui then fly to Fuzhou.
Day 6 - Shanutan Island and Fuzhou Forest Park.
Day 7 - Fuzhou Forest Park then Emeifeng Mountain.
Day 9 - Emeifeng Mountain.
Day 10 - Emeifeng Mountain then Wuyuan.
Day 11 - Wuyuan.
Day 12 – Drive Wuyuan to Dongzhai.
Day 13 - Dongzhai.
Day 14 – Dongzhai then fly Wuhan to Korlor.
Day 15 – Taklamakan Desert.
Day 16 – Taklamakan Desert then Urumqi.
Day 17 and 18 – Nanshan in the Tien Shan Mountains then fly Beijing. International flight.

Tuesday, 15 November 2016

China Wetlands (Birdquest) Tour - 15th November (Day 12)

We awoke to a thick fog in which we could barely see 50m but as we had breakfast the fog began to clear which gave us a little more hope of a successful day birding on Emei Feng Mountain. After a breakfast of coffee, bread, biscuits and banana’s we boarded the bus and began a slow drive down the mountain road with the primary aim of seeing Cabot’s Tragopan. The conditions we pretty grey and gloomy with, in places, thick fog patches reducing visibility down to around 50m. We recorded somewhere in the region of 30 Silver Pheasant mainly in parties of around five or six birds often with more than one male. We had good views of a pair of Elliot’s Pheasant as they ran up a track away from the road and we flushed approximately six Koklas Pheasant from the road with one party of three birds. But there was no sign of any Cabot’s Tragopan. We then birded an area of forest and buildings around the monastery near to the summit of the road. This produced my first Chinese Bamboo Partridge which showed well as well as Radde’s Warbler, Chestnut Bulbul, Mountain Bulbul, Black-throated Bushtit and Chinese Hwamei.

Silver Pheasant - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Elliot's Pheasant (male) - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Elliot's Pheasant (female) - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Lower slopes of Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Silver Pheasant - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Mountain Bulbul of subspecies holtii - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Chinese Bamboo Partridge - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Silver Pheasant - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Black-throated Bushtit - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Hoary Bamboo-rat ready for the pot, the Chinese seem to catch and eat anything and everything - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

After lunch we birded an old vehicle track near to the accommodation at the summit of the mountain road but in the fog this was fairly slow going. The highlights were a brief view of a White’s Thrush feeding on the trail, a Red-flanked Bluetail and a small flock of Yellow-browed Bunting. The woodland surrounding the trail was fantastic and I could see the potential of the trail if only it were not foggy. We birding the trail until 15:00 and then birded around a lake just down from the lodge and adjacent to the monastery. The boardwalk around the monastery produced Red-flanked Bluetail, Tristram’s Bunting and a Dusky Thrush.

Daurian Redstart - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Dusky Thrush - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Great Tit of subspecies commixtus - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Tristram's Bunting - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Yellow-browed Warbler - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Temple - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

Statue at Temple - Emei Feng Mountain, Taining

The final couple of hours of daylight were again spent on a gamebird drive up and down the mountain road mainly in the hope if seeing Cabot’s Tragopan but with no luck. The first bird I spotted I called as a female Tragopan and I was convinced of this based on my view, it appeared mottled and short-tailed in the brief view from the bus. But when we stopped two Elliot’s Pheasant flew from a spot nearby. I put this bird down to a poorly seen Elliot’s Pheasant but there is still a great deal of doubt in my mind and I believe that this bird may have been a Tragopan – one that got away. Up and down the road we went but no Tragopan but more fleeting views of Koklass Pheasant, good views of Silver Pheasant plus Spotted Forktail.

After dinner in the small village at the bottom of the mountain road we returned to our Hotel, the rather grotty and run-down Garden Lodge at the top of the Emeifeng Mountain road.

Life Birds;